Olympic showdown
With athletes experiencing difficulty finding places to train, momentum continues to grow for delay of 2020 Tokyo Games
Momentum is growing to delay the Summer Games over fears of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
USA Track and Field joined USA Swimming on Saturday in asking that the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee advocate delaying the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and top-level gymnasts are voting this weekend on whether USA Gymnastics also should lobby for postponement.
The decisions by swimming and track and field, and the potential decision by gymnastics, would align the three most powerful federations in U.S. Olympic sports in favor of asking the International Olympic Committee to delay the Tokyo Games scheduled to begin July 24.
On Friday, USA Swimming CEO Tim Hinchley said the Tokyo Games should be delayed for a year to protect athletes’ health and allow them to resume training schedules that have been delayed by facility shutdowns associated with the new coronavirus pandemic.
Max Siegel, USATF’s chief executive officer, did not specify how long the games should be delayed but said postponement is “the right and responsible thing to do … to prioritize everyone’s health and safety.”
“While our world-class athletes are willing to push themselves to their athletic limits in pursuit of Olympic success, the likelihood that they will be able to properly train in a safe and adequate environment, and replicate the excellence we have all come to expect, does not appear likely in the midst of this global crisis,” Siegel wrote to Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the USOPC.
Hinchley, USA Swimming’s CEO, said delay “is a solution that provides a concrete path forward and allows all athletes to prepare for a safe and successful Olympic Games in 2021. We urge the USOPC … to use its voice and speak up for the athletes.”
Swimming, track and field and gymnastics represent the core of the United States’ Summer Olympics success and the bulk of the prime-time material broadcast during the Olympics by NBC. The three sports produced 33 of the United States’ 46 gold medals and 77 of its 121 total medals.
U.S. swimmers won 16 gold medals and 33 total medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, and track and field athletes won 13 gold medals and 32 total medals. USA
Gymnastics athletes won 12 medals, including four gold medals and a bronze for Simone Biles, the fivetime world champion from Spring.
USA Gymnastics has given its men’s and women’s national teams until 11 a.m. Monday to respond to an anonymous survey on whether they think the Olympics should be delayed and, if so, for now long.
In an e-mail that began “Dear Olympic Hopefuls,” USA Gymnastics’ CEO, Li Li Leung, wrote that the federation wants to ensure that athletes’ voices are heard on the topic of whether to delay.
National team members Colin Van Wicklen and Sam Mikulak already have advocated for a year’s delay, citing the inability to train as gyms are closed in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19.
“We are acutely aware that the uncertainty of if and when the Olympic Games will happen this year is weighing on every one of you,” Leung wrote.
“We know that the crisis is having a direct and substantial impact on your ability to train for the Olympic Trials and the Olympic Games. We also know that the
Olympic Games is an honor and milestone that many work their whole lives toward reaching, and few have the chance to achieve.
“We anticipate that many of you might prefer for the Olympic Games to be postponed so that you have adequate time and resources to train appropriately. We also expect that there might be others of you who would prefer to press forward with having the Games on the original schedule, so long as we are past this crisis.”
Leung added, “In considering how our organization should advocate, and recognizing that there are a number of valid but differing views, we want to make sure your voice is what comes through. You are the athletes that have trained and sacrificed over many years for this moment and we want your input to determine how we use our organizational strength to advocate for you with our partners at the USOPC and the IOC.”
The e-mail included a link to a survey asking athletes if they favor a delay and, if so, whether they would prefer it to be three to four months, a year or longer. It also provides a space for athletes to elaborate on their answers.
The USA Gymnastics survey and letters to the USOPC by track and swimming federations came at the end of a week in which the International Olympic Committee said it remained “fully committed” to staging the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and sought to avoid speculation that the Games, scheduled to begin July 24, could be delayed.
Thomas Bach, president of the IOC, told The New York Times on Thursday that the IOC is “considering different scenarios” but added, “We owe it to all the athletes, and we owe it to all the half of the world that watches the Olympics to say we are not putting the cancellation of the Games on the agenda.”
USOPC leaders on Friday essentially repeated the IOC line — that while athlete safety would always be their top priority, it was too soon to employ drastic measures, and that they would press forward with logistical preparations for a July 24 start.
“The decision about the games doesn’t lie directly with us,” USOPC board chair Susanne Lyons said.